Squicquero: Celebrate life on your birthday

Nov. 11, 2013

Celebrating life is the reason we celebrate birthdays. Sometimes I hear, “It’s just another day” when I say “Happy Birthday” to a person.

The celebrations of birthdays began in Roman times when the sun was celebrated. As winter approached, the days got shorter and shorter as the sun spent less time in the sky. The Romans thought the sun was disappearing and dying. Around December as the days started to get long again, the sun rose higher in the sky and appeared to be reborn.

This brought the Romans joy and happiness, so they created a festival to honor this day and named it Saturnalia, after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The festival was huge with joy, peace, merriment and gifts to the sun. The festival lasted a week, and though often contentious, there is evidence to suggest Saturnalia became the day to celebrate the birthday of Jesus on Dec. 25.

Birthdays are an important event in our family. This was primarily due to our mother. On our birthday morning, she was the first to sing “Happy Birthday” to us, and we knew that evening there would be a celebration with cake, candles and presents.

Beautifully wrapped presents would grace the table waiting to be opened and appreciated. She was happy making us happy. In later years, as we became adults and had our own families, no matter where we were, she was the first to call to wish us a happy birthday, usually by singing, to celebrate our day and our life. As a parent myself, I imitate her style in celebrating birthdays and the beginning of life.

I realize that many people do not like celebrating their birthday. Perhaps this is because of high expectations or disappointments of the past. I am sad for them.

In our Spanish culture, birthdays are celebrated with lots of great food and hitting a piñata strung between two trees filled with candy. When a Spanish girl turns 15, she traditionally has a quinceanera to mark her passage into young adulthood and womanhood. It also reaffirms her devotion to God, connecting the celebration to Catholic and Christian faith.

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Birth is the beginning of life, and every life is worth celebration and commemoration, just as with any holiday or significant day in our lives. It is a chance to remember the day a major event occurred and to celebrate and give thanks for our life.

This month, as I celebrate my sister’s life, I also celebrate my friends Dotti and Paul and my mother-in-law. In celebrating Sherry’s birthday, I couldn’t have a better sister or friend. In celebrating Dotti’s birthday, she is my sister friend. Paul is an inspiration to me, and my sweet mother-in-law Elsie is a gentle soul who gave me my sweet husband. I wish all of you a happy birthday.

For those birthdays that we celebrate from afar, it is important to be creative. One suggestion is to drop something in the mail every week to let this person know that you are celebrating their birthday month, or do as I do with my sons and grandchildren by sending a special card with a brief page entitled 50 Reasons Why I Love You. No matter how you celebrate birthdays, make it special and make them count. Celebrate life!

Let me know what you think, or ask me a question by emailing me at squiggylpc@hotmail.com. Until next time, light and blessings to you.